Could CBS/Entercom be interested in buying KQ, 93X & the Vibe from Cumulus?

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A couple things to remember here. First, The Vibe now counts as three stations instead of one because the FCC started using Arbitron/Nielsen market definitions in '03. Not that it would be hard to divest the weakest two Vibe stations, but the clusters don't exactly fit like a glove.

Second, CBS acquired what's now 104.1 Jack FM as part of a DOJ mandated swap to enable it to acquire American Radio Systems and to enable Jacor to acquire Nationwide. 104.1 was briefly a Nationwide property. CBS couldn't get much bigger in the Twin Cities because of the 40% revenue cap the DOJ enforced. WCCO simply billed too much. I can't tell you what they bill today, but, in the late 90's, a WCCO and KQ-92.5 combination would've come very close to (and potentially exceeded) that 40% revenue cap. Both were monster billers. Again, I don't know how the decline of AM has affected 'CCO nor how the last 10 years of Citadel and Cumulus have affected KQ-92.5. I don't expect that either has gone up, but they may not have gone down as much as you might think.

So, is it possible Entercom and Cumulus could entertain a swap that expands the current CBS cluster? I suppose it is, but it wouldn't be the first place I'd look.

Hard to say. The big problem will be adding three new stations, especially when one is KQ-92.5, to the current cluster. Without a change in DOJ procedures and/or an elimination of sub caps, I don't see how you could combine those clusters as they exist today.

There would be no shortage of takers for the lower powered Vibe sticks. Entercom might be able to keep one or two of the Vibe trimulcast depending on what it had to get rid of in such a deal, but between colleges and religious organizations, there would be plenty of potential donees. One of the Hispanic broadcasters might be interested if the price is right, too.